Antagonist
by whayjhey
Summary: Percy Jackson is a new demigod in Kronos' Army, but there's a girl trying to get him to change sides. Camp Half-Blood AU. Short piece.


**A/N: This one's extracted from my now deleted story, "Once Upon A Summer", which originally featured three Camp Half-Blood AUs. Now I think I couldn't do the sequel anymore, so I made the three parts stand alone.**

 **This one is a short piece featuring Percy from the Kronos Army. Kind of roughly written, but I'm not really planning on posting a sequel to this. Haha. Enjoy reading, anyway!**

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 **Disclaimer:** I do not own PJO, HoO, or any other familiar references in this story. All rights belong to their respective owners.

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 **Antagonist**

"Jackson!"

Percy tensed at Luke Castellan's voice. He sounded angrier than usual, and Percy definitely had no idea what caused him to be. Hopefully, the source of his commander's anger wasn't him. Heck, he was new at this army thing. He hadn't even started doing his part yet. But uh-oh; what if _that_ was the reason Luke was mad?

Luke had found him on the streets, you see. He was a fifteen-year-old runaway after his mother died from a freak monster accident and after his stepfather declared that he was Percy's guardian now. Percy had decided living on the streets was way better than living with Smelly Gabe, so naturally he hit the road. He didn't understand why monsters attacked him, and he didn't understand why nobody else was seeing what he saw.

Until he met Luke. The older boy had explained to Percy what being a demigod was like. A demigod, like those half-human, half-gods he used to study about in that boarding school his mom had sent him to. Apparently Percy was a demigod, and his _real_ father was all powerful and mighty and immortal. He didn't want to believe it, of course, but Luke was convincing and it was the only story that explained the monsters.

Unfortunately, he also learned that his dad (whichever god he was) didn't care about him. That's why Luke and the other guys were preparing for a fight against the Olympians, to pay for abusing their power and for ignoring their children. Something like that.

So here he was now. A part of Luke's – or _Kronos'_ , rather – army and being called by his commander.

Percy entered _The Princess Andromeda's_ main suite. Luke had used the ship's main room as his headquarters.

"Luke?"

"Percy!" Luke barked at the newbie. "There are intruders on the deck. Now's the time to prove yourself. See to it that they don't succeed in whatever it is they're planning! Go!"

Obviously not wanting to be the receiving end of Luke's bad side, he exited the room and headed for his now new station. Nervously, he took out the pen Luke had given him from his pocket. When he uncapped it, it grew into a three-foot long sword. Percy would've thought that sword fighting was cool, if he actually knew how. So far the only "training" he got from the army was through getting beat up by the ugly monsters that picked on the new kids.

There was no one at the deck when he got there. He decided it was safe to roll his eyes at Luke's paranoia.

Suddenly there was a "psst."

Percy held his sword in front of him in a fighting stance, but he couldn't see anyone.

"Hey," the voice said again. "Demigod. You're making a mistake."

Percy would've let out a scream if he wasn't already freaking out inside. Suddenly there was a girl in front of him. Like, she literally just shimmered into existence. She had long blonde hair and a Yankees cap on her hands. She wore an orange shirt and pants. If her gray eyes weren't scary enough, she had a dagger attached to her belt.

"You're on the wrong side, half-blood," she told him. "Luke's army is a lost cause. He's planning to destroy the world. Would you honestly want to be a part of that?"

Despite his heart running a million miles per second (because this girl was scary _but_ pretty), he still found the voice to speak. "Luke's merely paying revenge for the Olympians who never cared. Are you sure _I'm_ the one who's on the wrong side?"

"You're being brainwashed!" she argued. "Look, I don't remember you so Luke probably got you before we did. We can still _change_ that. We can save you. There's a camp for demigods where we train and where we get quests and where we have cabins depending on who your parent—"

"I don't know who my father is!" Percy pointed out, feeling the anger he felt when Luke first told him about the Olympians. "He's never cared about me! He left me alone with a miserable life and—"

"That can change," the girl cut him off. "Your father needs you against the Titans. Look, I can prove that to you. Try praying to him now. Tell him that you're asking for a sign. Tell him that if he showed you a sign right this instant, it means that he cares about you."

It was a stupid idea, but the crazy girl actually had a way with words.

He was glaring at her, but he was starting to feel a painful ache in his chest. It was the same ache that he felt when his mother died, when he was desperate to know his father after he found out that Smelly Gabe was in charge of him.

 _Dad_ , he said in his head against his will. _I don't know who you are and who this weird girl is, but she told me to ask for a sign. And if you care, and if you think I'm on the wrong side, please let me know._

At first there was nothing, and he almost wanted to hate himself for believing her.

The alarms sounded behind him. He could hear the monsters growling and chasing after someone in another part of the ship.

"Oh gods," the girl cursed. "They probably found Beckendorf."

" _See?!_ " Percy said instead. "There is no sign. My father does not care—"

Suddenly all around them the water burst from the sea and rose up in a scary altitude. Before the two of them could duck, the water made its way onto the deck and entered the ship. The weird thing was, the waves parted around Percy and the girl, completely missing them from the new-formed flood.

"What-?" the girl seemed to be asking. She shot a look at Percy and her eyes widened.

A tall, dark-skinned guy swam his way towards them. He emerged panting, but he wasn't soaked either. "Annabeth!" the new guy cried. "Something weird just happened. There were monsters and then water but— _hey!_ You're completely dry, too!"

The girl – "Annabeth" – hadn't even moved her gaze from Percy. "Did you set the Greek fire?" she asked.

"Yeah." He nodded, for the first time noticing Percy. "We need to get out of here!"

Annabeth nodded. "Okay," she said. Then she pointed at Percy. "You. You're coming with us."

"And escape where?!" Percy was still freaking out from the water thing and his possible sign. Could it be true that his father cared about him? "We're in the middle of the sea!"

"The monsters could recover any minute, Annabeth," the tall guy probably named Beckendorf said. "We have no idea how long this flood's going to last. We have about thirty seconds before the timer sets off. Call the pegasi now!"

"I have a better idea," she said. "Let's hope I'm right about something."

And faster than the two boys could blink, Annabeth grabbed both of their arms and pulled them to plunge into the water.

At first Percy thrashed, mentally yelling at the girl for being an idiot, until he realized that he was breathing completely fine underwater. It was weird, but he saw the two other demigods breathing fine alongside him. From below he could hear somewhat of an explosion.

Finally the three of them resurfaced.

"What—just – happened?" Beckendorf gasped for air, staring at Percy with wide eyes. "Who are you?"

"No wonder your father didn't claim you all this time," Annabeth was saying. She and Beckendorf were soaked but seemed to be floating fine. "He was trying to protect you."

"You know who my father is?" Percy asked.

"Wait, wait." Beckendorf shook his head. "Annabeth, you don't think he's the son of—"

"It makes sense!" she argued. "The flood… the breathing underwater… and look at him! He's completely dry!"

Percy looked down on himself. Sure enough, he was dry unlike the two of the strangers.

"My father," Percy said. "You know who my father is. He—he gave me a sign. That was him, wasn't it?"

"He was protecting you," Annabeth answered. "Gods, all those time you thought he was ignoring you. Look, there's a lot to explain. There's a prophecy involved and – _oh my gods._ You're the prophecy kid. You shouldn't be alive."

"Gee, thanks," Percy muttered. "What prophecy? And who's my dad?"

"The war suddenly makes sense now. Does Luke know who your father is?"

Percy frowned. " _I_ don't even know."

"We need to take him back to camp," Beckendorf said. "Chiron's going to flip."

"Uh, can someone please tell me who my father is?" Percy asked, almost a little impatiently. "And what about Luke? Did you just make the ship explode?"

"We just bought ourselves some time. Luke's still alive; I can tell." Annabeth shook her head. "And you're coming back to camp with us. We have a lot to discuss, son of Poseidon."


End file.
